Heel-burnishing appliance.



No. 867,559. PATBNTED 00T. 1, 1907.

W. W. GROOKER. HEBL'BURNISHING APPLIANGE.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 13. 1906.

Mg? 'C' 6,57-,

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM WINSLOW CROOKER, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

HEEL-BURNISI-IING APPLIANCE.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1, 1907.

Application filed September 13, 1906. Serial No. 334,435.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WrNsLow GRooKER, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inl HeelBurnishing Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for burnishing heels that have been treated with wax or an analogous composition, the said means comprising a metal wheel which is internally heated and presents a molded external surface conforming to the shape of a heel and adapted to burnish the surface of a heel presented to it.

The chief object of the invention is to provide a bur- 'nishing appliance to which the operator may conven- It is generally the practice in finishing boot and shoe heels to scour the heel by presenting it to a rotary scouring wheel in such manner that the scouring action progresses from the median line at the rear of the heel forward toward the breast of the heel, the relative movement of the scouring appliance and the heel being such that the bers on each side of the heel extend from the rear median line toward the breast, the fibers on one side of the heel being laid in the opposite direction from the fibers on the opposite side of the heel so that on each side the bers point toward the breast of the heel.

My invention is embodied in a heel-burnishing appliance comprising two molded burnishing wheels located side by side and rotated in unison, the molded peripheries of the wheels facing in opposite directionsand forming the sides of a heel-receiving recess, the arrangement being such that the operator is enabled, without change of position, to present a heel first to one of the wheels while burnishing one side of the heel from the median line forward to the breast, and then to the other wheel While burnishing the opposite side of the heel from the median line to the breast, the result being the burnishing of the heel without disturbance of the positions of the fibers as left by the scouring appliance. Hence, both sides of the heel present the same appearance and luster, whereas if any part of the surface were burnished by a movement tending to reverse the positions of the fibers as left by the scouring appliance, the luster of the heel would be impaired, because the fibers would be left in a somewhat raised or displaced condition instead of being laid down compactly on the surface of the heel.

i Fig. l, looking toward the left.

Of the accompanying drawings,-Figure lrepresents an elevation of a burnishing appliance embodying my invention, one of the burnishing wheels being shown in section. Fig. 2 represents a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1, looking toward the left and showing the shoe in the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawingsr-a represents a shaft which is journaled in bearings in a suitable supporting frame (not shown), and is rotated by power applied in any suitable way.

o and o represent burnishing wheels rigidly affixed to the shaft a and located side by side thereon. The wheels are made of metal and each is provided with a molded periphery adapted to conform to the surface of a heel c to be burnished the periphery of each wheel being a duplicate in form of the periphery of the other wheel. The wheels are oppositely arranged, the molded periphery of each wheel facing in the opposite direction from the molded periphery of the other wheel, so that the peripheries of the two wheels form the sides of a heel-receiving groove or recess into which the heel projects when it is being burnished as indicated in Fig. 1. The wheels may be internally heated by suitable means, such as gas burners d.

In using the described device, the operator holding the shoe in his hands presents the heel to one of the burnishing wheels, for instance the wheel fo, first bringing the rear portion of the heel into' Contact with the wheel o so that the burnishing operation will commence at the median line of the heel at the rear portion thereof. The operator then turns the heel in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the burnishing wheel, the movement of the heel being indicated in Fig. 2 by the arrow x, while the movement of the wheel is indicated by the arrow y. This movement of the heel results in the progress of the burnishing action from the lmedian line along one side of the heel to the breast thereof in a direction indicated by the arrow z. When one side of the heel hasA been thus burnished, the operator reverses the position of the shoe, and presents it to the wheel o, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The heel is again turned by the operator, the movement being in a direction opposite to that of the rotation of the burnishing wheel, so that the burnishing operation is caused to progress from the median line of the heel at the rear portion toward the breast thereof.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the fibers of the heel are laid by the first operation on one side of the heel in the direction indicated by the arrow z, and by the second operation in the direction indicated by the arrow z (Fig. 3). The result isa uniform finish on both sides 0i the heel, the fibers being compacted Without being raised or disturbed from the position in which they Were originally laid by the scouring operation.

It is obvious that the two Wheels o o may be made in one integral piece or part, Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

It will be observed that the peripheries oi the Wheels are separated by an unobstructed recess so formed as to permit the application of the entire Width of a heel edge to either Wheel Without contact of the top lift with the other Wheel, as indicated by full and dotted lines in Fig. l. The curved edge of the Wheel is therefore operated on in the manner described, by the molded peripheres of the tWo Wheels, Without liability of indenting the top liit of the heel by contact with the Wheel opposite the one which is at the time acting on the edge ol the heel.

I claim;-

A rotary heel-burnishing appliance comprising two bnrnishingr wheels mounted side by side in axial alineinent, and provided With oppositely-f.'icing peripheries, molded to conform to the edge of a heel, and dulllicates each of the other in form, the peripheries of said wheels being separated by an unobstructed recess adapted to permit the application of the entire width of a heel edge to either wheel without Contact of the top lift with the other wheel, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have alixed in v signature, in presence of two witnesses.

WILLTAM WINSLOW tIlOOKIlR.

Witnesses z C. ll. BROWN, A. C. RATIGAN. 

